Motivating Family to Help in the Kitchen (listen here)

For more encouragement, follow the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast on your favorite podcast player.

Motivating Family to Help in the Kitchen (watch here)

Today’s episode is sponsored by True Leaf Market… my absolute favorite seed company. GO HERE to take advantage of the generous special offer for podcast listeners.

IN THIS EPISODE

– Why you might want to do all the cleanup yourself if teens are baking (it’s not why you think).

– How our family worked out a chore chart for the kids that included a rotation of kitchen cleanup.

– How this rotation kept the kids from associating food prep with drudgery.

– Details on our annual family challenges that had kids enjoying food prep and increasing their independence in the kitchen.

– Why we moms need to work hard at only offering praise to kids working in the kitchen and no negativity.

– Encouragement if you have some kids who never wind up enjoying food planning or meal prep

– Tips on getting a spouse to help out with dinner prep.

– Encouragement to see your spouse as complimentary (with an “i”… not complementary, with an “e”)

RESOURCES

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Where I get my cover crops, garden seeds, sprout garden and seeds, fermenting kits, and food storage lids for buckets and jars: https://soulyrested.com/seeds/

I mentioned an article about my 3 jobs. Find that here: https://soulyrested.com/2019/01/06/ho…

Dive into my free e-course on fresh flour: https://soulyrested.com/flour/

Check out https://soulyrested.com/coupons/ for current specials on many products I’ve mentioned in this season, especially my blender, dehydrator, and vacuum sealer that make real food so much more convenient.

CONNECT

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GET MORE FROM THIS EPISODE

My articles are written as encouragement for moms: https://soulyrested.com/category/enco...

My homeschooling-related articles: https://soulyrested.com/category/home...

MORE RESOURCES

Find my book, Sweet Maple, all about delicious real food, here: https://amzn.to/2OiAqWI (on Amazon) or here: https://bookshop.org/a/5810/978149303... (the second link supports small businesses)

Find all episodes of the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy Podcast at https://soulyrested.com/podcast/

To leave a review of this episode or the podcast in general, go to https://soulyrested.com/podcast/ and click “apple podcasts.”

To access my Subscriber Resource Library go here: https://soulyrested.com/snag-free-ebo...

And remember, It’s easy to forget how blessed we are to live this life. So enjoy the simple, everyday efforts. It’s not easy, but it’s a good life.

The post Motivating Family to Help in the Kitchen, part 2 (S4, E 8) first appeared on Souly Rested.

I’m all about dual-purpose, so these 6 herbs are ones I would be growing for our family even if I didn’t have chickens.

But I love it that these herbs serve both my family and the chickens very well.

If you’d rather listen than read, I got ya covered, with my latest podcast episode:

How I Use Herbs for My Chickens

While you can simply feed these herbs to your chicken, my hens are kinda odd. They don’t really eat the things I hear other chickens devour. I assume it’s because they’re free-ranging hens who have their run of the property, from sun up until sun down.

I love that they can free range because it makes a huge difference in our flea and tick population, plus it’s fun to see them meandering up to the back kitchen door many times a day to visit me beg for kitchen scraps.

My guess is because they have all the grass, and clover, and bugs, and worms you can imagine at their disposal, a plate of greens doesn’t do much for them.

But I will dry my herbs and crush them into the chicken food in the winter. A little dried herbs sprinkled over their same-old-same-old layer pellets makes for some very happy hens on a cold February day.

Even so, they seem to love it the most when I put fresh herbs in their laying boxes to spruce up the place. Anything that will keep them happily returning to their boxes, instead of hiding their efforts in a big hide-and-go-seek game around the farm, is a great win in my book.

6 Herbs I Grow for My Chicken

So today I thought I’d list out the 6 herbs I’m growing this year that both my family and my chicken seem to enjoy, to give you an idea of some great herbs to feed your chickens or leave scattered in their coop and nesting boxes.

Then below my current list, I’ve included an even more complete list of poultry-happy herbs. So keep scrolling.

Using MINT for chickens & using MINT in the kitchen

Mint in the kitchen

Mint is such a useful, versatile herb. If you’re only going to grow one, mint is the one I recommend. My favorite ways to use mint, both freshly picked and dried, is to make a soothing, delicious cup of warm tea and to flavor my second ferment of kombucha. While mint is great as a stand-alone kombucha flavor, it’s even better paired with a favorite fruit, from strawberry to blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, and beyond.

If you’d like to know more about how to make your own probiotic, gut-healthy, carbonated, delicious kombucha, here’s my library of articles about kombucha, and here’s more information about my course, Simple DIY Kombucha.

Mint for chickens

Just like it does for us, mint can calm a chicken’s stomach if they’re not feeling too great. It also may offer a calming, de-stressing effect for hens, making it a great addition to nesting boxes and even dust bathing areas.

Using OREGANO for chickens & using OREGANO in the kitchen

Oregano in the kitchen

Family pizza night and homemade pizza wouldn’t be quite the same without crushing some of our home-grown oregano into the sauce. But we also love it on roasted veggies and over roasted chicken and potatoes.

Oregano for chickens

Oregano strengthens a hen’s immune system, and folks even argue it fights against common poultry illnesses such as salmonella, infectious bronchitis, avian flu, and e-coli. Now that’s an herb that really knows its way around a chicken’s health.

Using LAVENDER for chickens & using LAVENDER in the kitchen

Lavender in the kitchen

While my favorite thing to do with lavender has nothing to do with the kitchen, I do use it there too. (My favorite use, btw, is to lay a bundle of dried lavender in my drawers and enjoy the wonderful smell when I put on a shirt or socks I’ve pulled out of those drawers.)

Lavender is a key ingredient in one of my favorite DIY Kombucha options: Lemon Lavender. Mmmmm. And lavender sugar is truly delicious to use in any way you use sugar.

Go here for full directions for making floral sugar.

Lavender for chickens

Just as the calming, soothing effects that the smell of lavender brings to us when we get a whiff of it, it has the same impact on a chicken. Which is extra nice if she’s in the daily stressful situation of laying an egg. So this is my favorite herb to line their nesting boxes with.

Using NASTURTIUM for chickens & using NASTURTIUM in the kitchen

Nasturtium in the kitchen

This year is my first ever to grow nasturtium, so I’ll have to keep you posted on how I like using this herb. I’ve been told that both the leaves and the bloom have a distinctly peppery flavor, so I’m intrigued to try adding them to soups, Kung Pao Chicken, vinaigrettes, and tossed salads.

I planted the nasturtium for one purpose only this year. I’m using it as one of many weapons against the dreaded squash beetle that made my blood boil and devastated my squash last year. But I love it that it is useful for both my kitchen and my chicken coop as well.

Nasturtium for chickens

I’m told that chicken enjoy eating both the leaves and the flowers of the nasturtium, which are good for the hens because they are naturally antibiotic. We’ll see if my chickens choose to snack on them (if not that’s okay, it leaves more for my salad).

Using BASIL for chickens & using BASIL in the kitchen

Basil in the kitchen

Pesto. Scrambled eggs with basil, chives, and everything bagel seasoning. And all things Italian.

Then there’s the Strawberry Basil Kombucha. (Just add 1/4 cup frozen, cut-up strawberries & 1 TB chopped fresh basil to your 1/2 gallon second ferment.) Need I say more?

Hop over here for all the recipes for my family’s favorite DIY Kombucha recipes. And make your own everything bagel seasoning too.

Basil for chickens

Basil helps keep the hens healthy with its natural antibacterial properties.

Using THYME for chickens & using THYME in the kitchen

Thyme in the kitchen

Thyme is a nice addition to meat, tomatoes, beans, eggs, and cheese. My favorite use for fresh (or dried) thyme is to add it to my omelets and souffle. It’s also a necessity for the thanksgiving meal, adding extra yum to both turkey and stuffing.

My grandma’s Souffle recipe is one of our favorite (super easy!) meals: See grandma’s souffle recipe here.

Thyme for chickens

Thyme helps a chicken have healthy mucus membranes, so it’s great at assuring your hens have a healthy respiratory tract.

Believe it of not, thyme bundles hung around the coop or sprinkled in the laying boxes are a great way to keep pests at bay. In fact, most aromatic herbs make great insect repellents. Because no matter how wonderful fresh herbs may smell to us, bugs tend to hate (and stay away from) things with a strong smell.

Take a Tour of my Vintage Coop

I say “vintage,” Bill says “falling down eye sore,” but I hope I can convince him it’s worth keeping. Even though he’d much rather tear it down and build a new fancy coop. What do you think?

Some Great Herbs for Chickens, in a Nut Shell

Here is a break down of some great herbs for your chickens & why:

• Basil – has antibacterial properties
• Lavender – highly aromatic and great stress reliever
• Marigolds – another stress reliever for the hens
• Marjoram –  has a laying stimulant for chickens and is a detoxifier
• Mint –  rodent repellent, digestive aid & lowers body temperature naturally
• Nasturtium –  another laying stimulant
• Oregano – strengthens a hen’s immune system
• Parsley – high in vitamins and it’s another laying stimulant
• Rosemary – pain relief and respiratory health as well as a natural insecticide
• Sage – antioxidant
• Thyme – tackles respiratory infections

Oh, and if you’re looking for great herb seeds, look no further than this variety pack, or anything you find at TrueLeaf Market… my favorite source for all our seeds.

The post 6 Herbs I Grow for My Chickens first appeared on Souly Rested.

Y’all know I don’t have Harvard Law degree, and you can probably make a safe assumption that I have no experience in family law, but I do have the credentials to explain the workings of a homeschool mindset. And you can bet your bottom dollar, as my daddy would’ve said, that I can give you an earful about how an average homeschool mindset lies in complete antithesis to the Harvard article’s premises. You see, this May will mark the end of a 20-year career for me (albeit one without any monetary compensation), one that I devoted to the elementary, middle school, and high school education of all four of my daughters. At home.

So if you will pardon my escape this week from my typical topics, next week we’ll return to our regularly scheduled program of good food and simple living. Today I have a soap box to climb up on and a wonderful privilege of parents everywhere to defend.

Pardon me while I grab my super-hero-homeschool-mom cape (aka my tattered blanket I’m cuddled up with on this cold gray day) and we’ll jump in.

If you’re more of an audio-kind-of person, I also just recorded a podcast episode on this very same topic. See episode 8 of the Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy podcast on your favorite podcast player, or find it right here, or just listen in below:

Why did I choose to homeschool?

I longed to give my daughters an education that went well beyond just learning facts, but that often left them hungry for more. In my own 16 years worth of education, I can’t recall one moment that left me hungry for more. Sure there were a few interesting teachers and a few decent classes (although truly not enough of either in my academic career that spanned public and private learning), but I never dug in deeper than I had to to earn the “A” I was seeking.

Even so, instilling a love for learning in my own daughters (that I never had until I started teaching them) wasn’t all I was striving for.

I longed for my daughters’ education to accomplish even more. I longed for it to uncover their unique talents and interests and then cater to those very areas, which I knew would be different in each girl.

The prospect left me exhausted. For two decades. But utterly blessed.

I’m never going to sugar coat it.

If you asked me my opinion of homeschooling, anywhere along my journey or even today? I’d respond without hesitation, and without any sugar coating, that homeschooling has been the most difficult, roller-coaster-ride of rewards I’ve ever experienced.

It has left me with black circles and bald spots, from what seemed like seasons full of incessant crying and pulling-out of hair. (I guess I should clarify I’m talking about my own hair, not my daughters, since, after all, a big focus of the Harvard Magazine article is on homeschool child abuse.)

But it sure has led to some great things.

While it has never been easy, homeschooling has created a family unit stronger than we would have known if I had not chosen this path. As I watch my daughters, as adults, living and planning fulfilling lives, I realize how short and yet how deep and rewarding the last twenty years have been. Professor Bartholet argues that attending a brick and mortar school “for six or seven hours a day… does not unduly limit parents’ influence.” I’ll overlook the fact that attending traditional schools takes up much more time than 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, when you add in the long bus rides and morning rituals required (instead of leisurely enjoying a warm breakfast together in pjs while studying your first subject or two all before the traditional school bell rings).

When I think of all the experiences I’ve enjoyed elbow-to-elbow with my daughters over the years that Ms. Bartholet’s “six or seven hours a day” would have made impossible I am deeply thankful that I had the choice to not only teach learn beside my children but to help them build profitable businesses in middle school, watch them build 125-pound robots for competition, encourage them to develop culinary skills beyond my own, work with them to raise and train animals, and help them take a fun interest and turn it into a philanthropic endeavor that blessed thousands of children in hospitals and refugee camps around the world. Sorry Harvard, but those skills are more valuable to them today–and make them more valuable members of our democracy–than 2 hours a day on a school-bus commute and seven hours a day in a brick and mortar building with peers would have been.

And homeschooling has developed each daughter into a stronger, wiser, more productive, and more compassionate woman than she would have been otherwise, each in distinctly different ways, because of course every child is distinctly different.

Why does a Harvard professor want to ban homeschooling?

In the latest edition of Harvard Magazine, Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard professor, is quoted as saying that she “sees risks for children—and society—in homeschooling, and recommends a presumptive ban on the practice.”

Erin O’Donnell’s article, based on Professor Bartholet’s recent paper she published in the Arizona Law Review, ironically, shows complete intolerance for a minority group arguing that one of the biggest flaws of this minority group is that it promotes bigotry. (Homeschoolers, the article itself explains, account for roughly 3 percent to 4 percent of school-age children in the United States.)

In the interest of being transparent, I will note that I was feeling intolerant toward Professor Bartholet when I finished reading the article. But if I’m really going for transparency, I’ll admit I was intolerant of her views right out of the batter’s box. The minute I read her words that homeschooling violates children’s right to a “meaningful education” I was ready to call “foul.”

And I might have called her a few foul adjectives. Maybe.

Even so, I decided to spend a few minutes getting to know her better, so I could maybe gain insight into the motive behind this article. After opening a few new tabs on my laptop and reading about Professor Bartholet’s legal career and her focus on defending children who truly deserve to be defended from horrible neglect and abuse, and after reading how she was personally deeply moved by the awful story of “Tara Westover, the daughter of Idaho survivalists who never sent their children to school. [“Homeschooled”] Westover…endured abuse by an older brother.” I wondered if maybe, just maybe, Ms. Bartholet truly thought her suggested ban on homeschooling was indeed in the best interest of a small, select group of children whom she genuinely thought could be saved from abuse by stricter regulations on homeschooling.

I saw more irony.

But as I read a little more, I couldn’t help but see more irony. Bartholet knows first-hand about our broken governmental childcare system. She herself has written about how a surprisingly high percentage of children with substantiated claims of abuse and neglect are victims of repeat maltreatment. She is well aware that the broken system knows about abuse and yet returns kids to these homes anyway. So I was at a loss as to why she would feel the public school system could be a legitimate check and balance system to somehow prevent an abusive parent from destroying a child’s life.

Bartholet also is in favor of international and domestic adoption, even though she is of course well aware that “religious people” make up the vast majority of those who are adoptive parents. So I couldn’t figure out why she would be so in favor of conservative adoptive parents but so suspicious of conservative homeschooling parents.

And, side note, religious beliefs are no longer even close to the #1 reason folks take their kids out of traditional education and begin homeschooling, but Ms. Bartholet seemed to think it was. More on why parents are choosing to homeschool below.

I saw no logic.

When I saw no true logic in Ms. O’Donnell’s article, I started wondering if it was possible that the liberal education establishment—of which ivy league schools are the pinnacle—is concerned what attitude parents will have when they come out the other see of the corona virus shutdown?

Is it possible that elite, expensive collegiate establishments are worried that parents may see the joy in educating their children themselves and suddenly decide to make their children’s education their own personal priority?

Are expensive colleges worried that parents may suddenly be willing to rearrange their priorities and, instead of always striving for more material gains to improve their child’s life, long to cut out all extraneous things… such as new clothes (and go thrifting instead), a new car (we run ours into the ground), and dinners out (the kids love homemade pizza and movie at home even more—and it costs just a few dollars)… to cut out the need for one parent’s income?

Are a few people at Harvard wondering if parents, after realizing the oh-so-hard but surprising joy of learning alongside their children during the corona-virus shutdown, will now make sacrifices so one parent can stay home with their children and take their education into their own hands?

If so, then, after being educational, homeschool “rebels,” those same families may—years from now—realize that striving for their child to attain ivy league status after high school graduation is not an ideal that is important to them.

Could Harvard be concerned that after years worth of financial sacrifices for family gain, a high-price-tag college degree may no longer look so impressive to families across the country?

It left me fuming. With a pen.

Of course, I can only wonder. I can try to guess, but cannot understand the basic premise behind Ms. Bartholet’s paper or Ms. O’Donnell’s article. The blatantly vicious, prejudiced attack on an extreme minority in our nation left me fuming.

Then I stumbled across some insight into the thoughts of admissions officers at three institutions, where they stated that they privately believe that homeschoolers are, overall, close-minded religious bigots. And I decided I wasn’t going to sit silent over here in my chilly old farmhouse kitchen on this cold April morning. So here I am, jumping into this debate, armed only with my two decade’s of insight into hundreds of homeschool families in the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas. And with my pen.

The main “risks for children—and society—in homeschooling”… the main arguments in favor of a “ban on the practice,” according to the Harvard Magazine article? Homeschooled children are deprived of a meaningful education, not encouraged to be productive members of our democracy, and not protected from potential abuse.

What defines a meaningful education? 

The Harvard professor argues that homeschooling deprives children of a “meaningful education.”

While the list of problems with this first argument is longer than I care to tackle here, I will point out a few.

First of all, Ms. Bartholet  has seemed to have forgotten that roughly two-thirds of American students are scoring below grade level in both reading and math by the time they enter high school. 

Also, I fail to understand how a one-on-one education, administered by a person who is truly invested in a child’s life, would not lead to, at a minimum, a somewhat meaningful education?

I assume Ms. Bartholet is picturing an abusive parent when she pictures homeschooling as meaningless effort, void of learning, but in reality the one that an average homeschooling mom truly “beats up on” is herself, always realizing there is some area of her child’s education that could be improved… always arguing (as her own worst critic) that at least one part of their child’s daily activities could be more meaningful. And often losing much sleep over trying to make it so. For every child in her care.

In the end, I would recommend that professionals such as the Harvard professor spend less time worrying about the children whose parents have taken on the responsibility for their educational well being, since, for the most part, those parents are doing enough worrying of their own, and instead, invest resources into improving the system, from the ground up, for those children whose parents simply don’t have any other option.

Who is adequate for the job? 

The professor goes on to point out that there are homeschooling parents who are not adequate for the job of educating a well-rounded child.

This actually should not be surprising since, according to a study done in 2018, more than one in five adults, products of our public educational system, are functionally illiterate, while another 28 percent read at a “very basic” level. That equates to roughly half the adult population of the United States. So indeed there are some homeschool parents—who are products of the public educational system—who are not academically gifted themselves. But if we encouraged these parents to not homeschool their children then the argument is, “You’re not qualified, so send your child into the system that created you, unqualified to teach your own child, so they too may one day be unqualified to teach their own.”

Even so, I’m going to backtrack here and say I actually agree with Ms. Bartholet. In fact, I’ll go one step further and argue that NO homeschool parent is adequate for the job of educating a well-rounded child. But, ironically, this very fact leads to the next rebuttal of yet another erroneous point of the Harvard Magazine article.

How do we raise up the future generation? 

The Harvard Magazine article argues that homeschoolers are not active, productive members of our democracy.

The assumption behind this argument is, of course, that a traditional educational system churns out students who are active, productive members of our democracy. But when a government has total control over what the youth are learning, and how they are learning it, isn’t it obvious that that can, potentially, lead to a totalitarian regime that recruits its supporters from youth and churns out cookie cutter citizens?

While, no, I am not adequate for the job of educating a well-rounded child, what naturally follows is indeed the makings of a wonderful democracy. You see, it’s too lofty and wonderful of a task to educate a child. It’s not a job that one person is able to do so single-handedly. In a dozen or so brief years, how can one instill great knowledge, as well as a passion for learning itself, and the abilities to do so freely, all life long, in a child?…. Not to mention the impossibility of the other tell-tale sign of a superior education–to help a pupil uncover his or her own passions and innate abilities and nurture them in ways totally unique to them…. no, there is no one up to the challenge, and everyone will fail at this roller-coaster, impossible ride known as educating a well-rounded child, Ms. Bartholet. You and I can agree on this.

But the story doesn’t end with a parent’s failures.

But the professor’s analysis would end there.

My personal experience confirms that the story—thank goodness!—does not end with my failures.

The story mushrooms and spills over, to draw in numerous mentors and experts into each child’s life, to fill those voids where I could never measure up. I sought out robotics teams, travel softball coaches, professional potters, experienced entrepreneurs, even website designers who wanted “in” for a brief season on this small window, through one child’s life, to leave a footprint and make a difference for everyone’s future.

Because we all know that is the way to change this country for the better. To raise up a future generation who is passionate about important things, and always eagerly learning and improving themselves and things around them. Since that is the ultimate goal of almost every homeschool parent I’ve ever worked with over the past two decades, I fail to see how on earth any standard, public education system could create more active, productive members who are contributing positively to our amazing democratic society. Yet Professor Bartholet argues that homeschoolers fail in these categories.

Sadly, on a different note, this interesting study points out that our public education system is failing our democracy in the area of civics studies. It turns out only 50% of Americans know how long the terms of representatives and senators are, not alone who has the power to declare war or what rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution.

Then there’s the argument about potential child abuse?

In the article, the argument is made that homeschooling “violates children’s right to … be protected from potential child abuse.”

After reading about Professor Bartholet’s legal background, I have to believe this argument against homeschooling was the one most concerning to her. I believe she has spent her adult life truly working to benefit children who are in need, and, if so, I respect that about her. Even so, I fail to see the logic behind her argument that banning homeschooling will in some way lessen child abuse.

Where is the real danger?

While I think the best way I can respond to this is with the study results I will explain below, my gut reaction the first time I read this argument was the fact that one of the leading reasons parents have decided to homeschool in recent years is they want to remove their child from danger they’ve been exposed to in the traditional education system: abuse in the form of bullying, as well as abuse at the hands of authority figures, rampant drug use, and violence.

In fact, a 2016 study by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that the #1 reason that parents choose homeschooling is their concerns about the dangers in the public education environment. 

How many parents would homeschool? If only…

So my gut reaction when Ms. Bartholet argued that banning homeschooling will decrease child abuse was to wonder how many beautiful children have parents who would gratefully and willingly sacrifice of themselves and do whatever necessary to give their child a different option—bring them home and teach them themselves—if they knew that their child was being verbally, or maybe even physically, abused by an authority figure at their school to the point that their child can no longer find any joy in their classes.

If they knew that their child was being bullied by their peers to the point of considering suicide….

If they knew that their child was considering starting down a horrible path of drug abuse because they were exhausted at trying desperately to feel excepted by their peers and figure just dabbling in drugs a few times and hanging with the cool kids could help them finally feel that they fit in…

And if they knew that homeschooling is a viable, legitimate option and that, as explained here, the home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests….

Instead, articles like Erin O’Donnell’s convince parents to turn a blind eye to odd actions they notice in their child because, let’s be real, they logic, it’s not like homeschooling will ever give their child a profitable life. They’ve read articles about the fact that homeschooling just turns a child into a self-centered person with no true exposure to a wide variety of people and beliefs who isn’t a valuable member of society. And they don’t want that for their child.

If only there were more straightforward, unbiased articles like this one in USA Today explaining how, on average, home-schooled students routinely participate in eight social activities outside of the home, consume considerably less television than do traditionally-educated students, have higher self-esteem, and are less susceptible to peer pressure.

A ban would lead to more victims.

But thankfully there have been thousands of families who DID realize the abuse their child was facing in school, families who chose to homeschool because it was safer for their child. Imagine how a ban on homeschooling would literally force thousands of children back into an environment their parents had pulled them out of because of the very fact that they were being victimized there.

Increased regulations do not decrease abuse.

Now that I’ve told you my gut reaction to this argument, I’ll share with you the results of a study that Erin O’Donnell should have glanced at before she wrote her article for Harvard Magazine. In a detailed study on this very topic—examining children ages 6 through 17 over an 18-year period— the researchers found no statistical evidence that there is any relationship between the number of abused homeschool students and the degree of state control over homeschooling.

So states that have had no regulations over homeschools for the past two decades did not experience any higher occurrence of abuse among homeschoolers.

This leads to the natural conclusion that instead of reducing abuse, a ban on homeschooling would increase abuse.

But what do other college professors think about homeschoolers?

I have a writer friend who, after graduating her own children from homeschooling, decided to find some college professors willing to answer a few simple questions about homeschoolers. My friend was curious to know how college professors viewed an average homeschooler.

While Michelle’s efforts were far from scientific (she went to facebook and did some searches) and she only questioned 7 random professors who actually replied to her request, via Messenger, the responses were eye-opening for anyone wondering what kind of adults are the products of this 40-year “experiment” known as modern homeschooling. Here’s Michelle’s full article, and here are a few of those professors’ insights:

“I have been so impressed by my homeschool students that I pulled my son from public school. He started homeschooling in 7th grade.”

“My homeschool students are some of my ‘favorite’ students…I find them to be ready to learn in a way that I don’t see with public school students.”

“Generally speaking, I can tell if a student is a homeschool graduate by the middle of the semester, because he or she is serious about class, interactive in class, and does very well, especially on those things not explicitly covered in class. I wish I could fill my classes with homeschool graduates.”

But maybe the most telling of all the questions Michelle asked was when she asked these 7 randomly-chosen college professors what they saw as the biggest weakness of homeschooled children in college.

One explained that her biggest complaint about homeschooled students was the fact they they were always forgetting to put their names on their work. (Honestly. I couldn’t make this up.)

Another one’s biggest gripe was that homeschoolers don’t know how to properly format a bibliography in MLA or APA style. (Not a skill I have found I needed once in my adult life, although maybe it would have come in handy with this article.)

But the best answer rang loud and true in my heart. In fact, just hours after I read this professor’s comment that I’ll share in a minute, I got a text from my eldest. She sent a photo of her new knitting project. I asked if if she was having trouble matching up her rows because it kinda looked like the knitting was a little crooked, and I knew this was her first-ever attempt at knitting a sweater, not alone one so intricately cabled.

“Oh, no, trust me mom, it’s perfect! It just wasn’t laid out perfectly straight on the couch when I took that picture.”

The perfection syndrome

The problem this professor explained that he saw so often in homeschoolers? “A perfection syndrome. Homeschool graduates are less likely to understand that there is an appropriate trade-off between efficiency and 100% accuracy. They tend to work on assignments too long in order to make them perfect.”

Yep. I can absolutely relate to what this professor had experienced as well.

Learning without a teacher?

So I can only speculate what the Harvard professor’s motives are when she calls for a ban on homeschooling and tell you, with all sincerity, that her logic is flawed when I compare it to my own two decades of experience with homeschooling children and parents from the Mid-Atlantic area through New England.

I can’t help but wonder if it could be that the biggest fault the traditional educational system finds in homeschooling is what the professor who described the perfection syndrome stated as his last comment on Michelle’s questionnaire:

“The greatest strength of homeschool graduates is their ability to learn without a teacher.”

More homeschool-related posts:

Help your child be an entrepreneur

Nine perfect things for a family to do together

Study nature with a child & create a family Backyard Book

How a homeschooler does a graduation party

Why I only have 2 goals for my daughters’ education

And here are some other links that might interest you:

Four questions successful parents ask themselves often

Twelve reasons to take your daughter to the fair

How my children succeed, even though I’m a failure

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 1:4

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Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018 and then one of the Top Homesteading Blogs of 2019 as well.

 

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The post Why Does a Harvard Professor Want to Ban Homeschooling? first appeared on Souly Rested.

It’s indisputable & undeniable; games are inherent to who we are. Today we’re describing the most popular family games around this house… all linked to below.

This post contains affiliate links. Go here to read the full (ultra fun) legal disclosure about that.

I love playing games together as a family, because it’s a great excuse to all huddle around a table and enjoy hanging out together.

Phones get left to the side. And we all have each other’s full attention.

Games leads to laughter and conversation that often would never happen any other way.

If you’d rather, listen in to a recent podcast all about this topic right here:

Our family must own well over 50 games, and don’t even get me started about decks of cards. We have drawers full of various ones. We don’t include standard card games in this article, like Rummey, and Hearts, and Presidents (all favorites over here as well) but this book gives directions for those and 98 other games to get your decks of cards into full-force use.

And, no, you don’t need to own 37 different decks. Cause who would do that? cough. cough.

The Most Popular Family Games in our House

It’s hard to choose which ones are our favorites. Obviously, we go through seasons that our choices would change, and of course new games are always entering the scene around here. But after great thought and heated debates we compiled this list for you of our favorite games.

Azul–This game is not only my current absolute favorite, but it’s also drop dead gorgeous. If aesthetics matter to you in a game this will be your lifetime favorite. While Azul is a little more quiet/contemplative than i like in a family game, there is definitely still room for a nice conversation while you play this game. I should mention that I did a lot of research on this one before purchasing it for my daughter and new son-in-law on their first Christmas. (Yes, in this family games are very important. It was a given that the newlyweds needed a closet full of popular family games to start off their new life together.) I learned that there are other versions of this game that are far less appealing, so definitely stick with this version right here. Oh, and bonus for a newlywed couple, it’s a great game for just 2 players. Negative for a family of 6, who often has extra friends over on game nights, it only allows for 4 players. So we’ve decided we’ll soon be getting a second copy so we can double our playing capacity. We love it that much.

Tetris–From the fun asthetics of this game to the multiple levels of play, there’s so much to love about this game. While there is thinking and strategy involved, it’s also a game that allows for plenty of connection time and talking while you play.

Cover Your Assets–Don’t let the simplistic nature of this card game that fits in a little box fool you. It’s fast paced and addicting. And it’s perfect for this competitive family. (We also own a cute limited edition of this featuring Crumbl cookies, but I don’t think you can find it anymore, which is fine, Cover Your Assets is more to-the-point and more competitive.)

Brain Games–Don’t let this name fool you either. I was worried it’d be only for brainiacs or only all about optical illusions. I was totally wrong, on both counts. And we’ve never played this without loving every minute of it.

Skyjo–Don’t let the weird name fool you. This is one of my favorite games these days. In fact, it’s the favorite of everyone in our family. I love it because you can totally talk with each other and enjoy your conversation while you play. There is enough “chance’ involved that you just laugh and keep talking (and the game keeps moving) if you choose wrong. Yet there is a decent amount of strategy, so it’s a perfect balance really.

Cabo–This simple card game, played with an average deck of cards– is one we come back to often. Find the rules here.

Qwirkle–I think one reason I love this game is that it’s truly great for all ages. Well, they recommend 6+ but I’m certain younger could thrive at this game and yet it’s one of Bill’s absolute favorites. I also love that it makes me examine the playing area closely and think outside of my usual “box,” yet we seem to be able to hold great conversations while playing this family favorite. But a few members of our family are extremely tactile kind of people and I’m sure this game would be a favorite of theirs even if it wasn’t so fun to play.

Phase 10–A great game for all ages, this has been played in our house as long as I can remember, and we still truly love it. Phase Ten is a great game for a long, gray, rainy day. Or it’s a great option if you’re in the mood to challenge each other to a long-standing competition… it’s easy to just play a round or two and pick the game back up right where you left off night after night.

Code Names–I love this game because it really makes you think outside of the box but I never suggest this as a game option if it’s a night I want to just soak up each other’s company or if we’re with new friends we really want to get to know. With Code Names, you’re thinking hard all the time and there is no extra talking at all. But it is a really fun game of thinking.

WhooNu–THIS is the game I always pull out when we’re playing with new friends because it’s a fun way to get to know each other. Yet it’s also a tried-and-true favorite, popular family game in our house. It always will be. Your friend likes chewing bubble gum more than making snowmen? Who knew!

Taboo–Taboo came out when I was a teen, and I’m super glad it’s still around, because it will always be one of my favorites. But if you can find a version from the 1980s you will love the battery-powered buzzer more than today’s little squeaky thing. Or you’ll hate it. If your husband is in charge of it and won’t. stop. beeping. it. non-stop. It could go either way.

Fact or Crap–Full disclosure… this one wouldn’t have made my list, but my teen daughters stood over my shoulder and insisted I add this one. If your friends and family would enjoy making random guesses on stupid things you could never be expected to know you too would love this one. But the real joy sets in once in a while when you indeed know a random fact and you feel “pretty freakin smart,” to quote Kayla, like when the “dendrochronoly” card came up for her and she knew the definition by heart from 8th grade science while everyone else thought she was a brilliant scholar of all things tree-rings.

Wits & Wagers–this is a game of randomly betting on useless information that you really have no idea about, yet somehow it’s one everyone loves around here.

Imaginiff–I wouldn’t say this one is top on our list of popular family games, but suprizingly we always enjoy it when we bring it out. I do feel like there aren’t really enough cards after you’ve played it a lot. You’ll start recognizing the cards and maybe even remember how someone chose on that same card in the past. I really like the way the game works though, that you get more points the more that others guess your guess. So there’s a bit of strategy involved in choosing the right answer.

Dutch Blitz–this game has been around way longer than I have yet it’s super fun. It’s a nice fast-paced game with never a need to wait a turn. It is total chaos as everyone works at the same time to build sets in order to get rid of all the cards in their hand first, but it’s fun chaos. We own this option, which includes an awesome expansion pack so 8 people can join in on the crazy chaos all at once.

Five Crowns–This card game works well with a small or larger group and it’s good for a wide age range to all enjoy playing together. It’s strategic but not too hard, so the family can enjoy talking while playing. Bonus: it’s a sneaky way for kids to practice addition skills.

Sequence–my father-in-law gave us a homemade version of this back before I even knew you could buy this game and it’s been a staple in our game closet ever since.

Then, last but definitely not least…

Cranium Turbo Edition–we just recently discovered this game. Apparently it was first made 20 years ago, but we seriously had never heard of it. (I have no idea how this happened.) We have played a slew of varieties of Cranium games, and while we’ve liked them for different reasons, in their own right, you may have noticed that none made the list. They seem to grow kind of wearisome and tiring after playing them a handful of times. And if you’ve played one Cranium game you’ve played them all, in some fashion… or so we thought… Then we tried this one. There are so many things to love about this game! I’ll name just a few:

• There seems to be an unlimited number of players. Super fun if you have a big crowd and want some pretty mindless, super fun entertainment.
• There is such a great variety of activities! 16 to be exact, and 6 of these you won’t find in any other Cranium game. I think the ones that makes us crack up the most are the Puppeteer cards, kind of a charades on people-as-a-puppet steroids.
• The electronic timer with music and lights is unlike any timer we’ve seen in any game and it seriously makes us break out in goofy dance sometimes it’s so fun.
• With 1,000 game cards I can’t imagine we will ever get sick of this or see repeat cards.
• It comes with many fun options of cards we can design ourselves for our own personalized game.
• We’ve never played this without laughing uncontrollably time and again.

Honorable mentions

The Bible is Funny is kind of like a PG-rated Cards Against Humanity and we crack up every time we play it.

Inklings (an oldie, I can’t find it online anymore), Scattergories, Balderdash, and the silliest game my daughters love to still drag out and play, like they’re 8 again? Mall Madness.

Then there’s Carrom–kind of a table-top version of pool, using your fingers and circular playing pieces instead of pool sticks and balls. This one doesn’t come out often (probably because it is stored in the barn attic, just because of the size of the game, so it’s just not as convenient to grab when game mood hits. But when it does come out, it’s played for days on end.

Our favorite games when the kids were younger…

Blink

Hi Ho Cherry O

Hungry Hippo

Trouble

Sorry

Connect Four

Uno Attack

Battleship

Rummy Roots

And the girls loved these favorite single-person “games,” for lack of a better word:

Tangrams

Rush Hour

Then there are these adorable games that my girls would have LOVED when they were younger, if only they existed then!

The Uno Moo Game (Look at that cuteness! Complete with a BARN!)

Zingo (Bingo with a Zing? Yes, please!)

Here are some other links that might interest you:

9 Perfect Things to do on a Long Winter Evening, many of which are good to do as a family in every season.

The secret to making the perfect (giant!) cookie that makes every game night just about perfect.

Four Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves

When Parents Feel Like Failures (and why it’s okay to fail)

Now it’s YOUR turn! Please help me find our family’s NEW favorite game by recommending YOUR favorite game(s) in the comments! I can’t wait to hear!

Listen in to my thoughts on these family games in this podcast episode:

Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands. I Thessalonians 4:11

The post Popular Family Games first appeared on Souly Rested.

I can picture myself in an MLA support group (Maple Lovers Anonymous).

There I’ll be, rising from my folding metal chair that’s part of a circle of similar uncomfortable chairs situated in the middle of some cold gymnasium floor. My eyes will scan from one face to another of those who feel my addiction. Those who also drink way too much tea, just so they can add some maple sugar. Those who can’t make a cake or mix up a marinade without wondering if they should add maple syrup to the recipe. Those who watch the thermometer and weather forecast way too closely this time of year and obsess over the thought that maybe today the sap will start its slow-moving dance down every maple’s phloem.

“Hi. I’m Michelle. And I’m a maple addict.”

Melissa and I Both Got Excited.

In anticipation of the soon-to-be-here sugaring season, I’m elated to share this podcast (see below)–which I just recorded with Melissa K. Norris, over on Pioneering Today–about all things maple. Melissa, on the other hand, was very excited when I didn’t hesitate to say “Of course!” when she asked if I’d share one of my all-time, absolute-favorite recipes on her blog.

When Melissa asked what my favorite maple recipe was, I hesitated. I mean I’ve always been a sucker for chocolate chip cookies, but especially now that I make them with maple.

I’m a sucker for this giant chocolate chip cookie in cast iron.

But I’m a Goliath sucker for this super sized Maple Candy Cookie.

Then there’s maple fudge. Um, yes! And maple scones. Be still my heart. But when I told her that my most favorite recipes are ones that I love to bake in my old, heirloom cast iron pans .  .  .  Ones that I inherited .  .  . Ones that come with a story .  .  . Well, I had Melissa at “cast iron.” Then we spent a moment being a little side-tracked ohhh’ing and ahhhh’ing over our favorite family cookbooks.

But if you know Melissa and I at all, none of that would surprise you.

The part of the podcast that you won’t believe until you hear it for yourself? All right, I’ll come clean. I confessed to Melissa that I used to hate maple syrup. Listen for the full story and what caused my change of heart.

Oh, and if you need some all-natural syrup? This sampler is a great place to start (it makes a great gift!), and this wood-fired syrup is amazing. Highly recommend.

Also be sure to hop over to Melissa’s site for my grandmom’s Melt-in-Your-Mouth Blueberry Cake recipe (yes, it really is all that). Well, it’s kinda collaborative recipe I guess, between grandmom and I, across the generations, after I altered it a little and made it Melt Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Maple Cake.

I shared Grandmom’s blueberry cake recipe here a while ago (sans maple, before my obsession took deep root). I’ll admit that both versions are truly delicious. But I thought I’d link to both versions in this one post, so you can just PIN THIS and have everything you’ll need in one post.

You’ll Hear the Whole Story.

So when you have a few minutes listen to the podcast I recorded with Melissa. I fill you in on the whole story .  .  .  why I wasn’t a fan of maple. And why I changed my mind.

Click here to hear me on the Pioneering Today podcast talking about my favorite sugarmaker ever, who happens to be my high school sweetheart, and who loved me long before I loved maple.

If you’d like to read more about my family’s sugarmaking experiences the past few years, there’s plenty to read around here.

But consider yourself forewarned. My story, along with my grandmom’s blueberry cake recipe, might make a maple addict out of you too.

Please follow along!

Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, discover fascinating things about my centuries-old farmhouse, glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades, or enjoy the inside scoop on the secrets other legit homesteaders might not tell you.

I hope my focus always encourages you, because simple joys require hard work. Let’s face it, we all need all the encouragement we can get!

As soon as you subscribe (in the box at the end of this post), you’ll have immediate access to my Resource Library, which includes many useful printables, my FREE EBOOKs, and other amazing recipes for things like whoopie pie cookies, maple sap switchel, and another heirloom recipe, from a different grandmom, for a perfect pie crust.

Things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.

We will not hide them from their descendants;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psalm 78: 3-4

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making. Of course, my favorite cast iron pans are there too.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

Pin this and listen again later!

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Before you even scroll down and subscribe, I have a free eBook for you that might help your family live a little more simply and use a little less refined sugar. Download Maple Goodness here or just click on the eBook image below. Your family will truly love the Best Ever Maple Scone recipe in this free eBook.

Type your email address in the box below, or click here for the 33-page eBook, A Sweet Taste, and so much more.

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The post Should you consider swapping out sugar for maple syrup? first appeared on Souly Rested.